


To His Majesty King Bhelen of Orzammar

by PazithiGallifreya



Series: Lady Cadash [2]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 09:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11310126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PazithiGallifreya/pseuds/PazithiGallifreya
Summary: Cadash did not enjoy the Deep Roads, or what lay below. That does not mean she will not tell of what she found there, no matter how inconvenient the truth might be.





	To His Majesty King Bhelen of Orzammar

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for The Descent
> 
> This expands upon a brief post I wrote about [Cadash's singularly uncomfortable experience during this quest](http://pazithigallifreya.tumblr.com/post/162162729392/the-woes-of-surface-dwarves), but it isn't necessary to understand it. Essentially, Cadash only ever had limited patience for dwarven hypocrisy and it has just run out...

_To His Majesty King Bhelen of Orzammar, on this tenth day of Harvestmere in the year 9:41 Dragon;_

I, Dari Cadash, Inquisitor, write to His Majesty to report on the events which took place over the previous fortnight, beneath the Storm Coast, which I shall detail within this letter. An exact copy of this letter and its attachments shall also be provided to the Merchant's Guild, to be delivered by agents of House Tethras, as this matter concerns all Dwarves, wherever they may dwell.

Orzammar requested the aid of the Inquisition two months ago to investigate and halt a series of unnatural earthquakes which imperiled the Kingdom's essential lyrium mines. The result of this effort has proved satisfactory - the source of the earthquakes was located and neutralized. I expect this is the result His Majesty anticipated and that His Majesty shall be pleased with this outcome.

I shall also, as a favor of the Inquisition, relay several observations made by myself and by my companions, that may be of interest to Orzammar, with no compensation expected in return. His Majesty may consider these truths to be a free gift of goodwill, for His Majesty to consider in his great Wisdom to the betterment of the Kingdom.

Firstly, I must relay the untimely demise of Renn, an honored warrior of the Legion of the Dead who had been tasked with the protection of the Shaper, Valta. Tradition dictates that the Legion die before entering the deep roads, and his family will have already mourned his passing. I feel it is my duty, however, to describe the events which brought about his true end, as it was no mere darkspawn which ended this brave warrior's life. Renn of the Legion of the Dead died at the hands of dwarves.

One would be hard pressed to recognize the dwarves who met us with such violence as dwarves, their armor and weapons utterly alien to anything seen in Orzammar or upon the surface. These dwarves, we discovered, are called the "Sha-Brytol". Shaper Valta translated a series of carvings we discovered in the deepest recesses of the world, far below what we call the deep roads, to the best of her ability - Revered Defenders is essentially their title.

What, might His Majesty ask, were these unknown dwarves defending? The answer is both simple and profound: the Titans, long considered little more than a myth or a fairy-tale for children's bedtime stories, are a reality. They are vast, and they sleep far below Orzammar. It was indeed one of these immense beings which, having been disturbed by the Fade's energy pouring out of the Breach above in all likelihood, stirred beneath the earth.

The Shaper Valta, despite her great knowledge of the Memories held in Orzammar, had little knowledge of this grand being, despite their obvious intimate link with dwarven kind. It is a curiosity to me that she was removed from the Shaperate and sent into the deep roads over a trifle, from what I gather, and that the Memories, far from being a permanent recording of Orzammar's history, seem rather to be quite mutable.

I can only assume that all knowledge of the Titans was, at some point, expunged from the Memories. I do not doubt that His Majesty has greater wisdom than his forebears, and would not allow such desecration to occur again. So, I now shall give to Orzammar what we have discovered, so that His Majesty may correct this ancient error.

Firstly, this expedition has confirmed what the Inquisition's Master Arcanist hypothesized during her extensive work with enchantments and the uses of lyrium. That is, lyrium is not a metal or mineral in the traditional sense, but rather it is a living element. It is, in essence, a kind of blood, of the Titan itself (the red lyrium which has caused endless trouble on the surface is, of course, lyrium which has been affected by the Darkspawn blight, as all living things are susceptible to such corruption).

Our observations of the Sha-Brytol revealed that the armor they wore was woven through with the lyrium blood of the Titan which they so fervently defended. This lyrium was also embedded directly into their skin and penetrated their bodies, connecting them permanently to both the armor and to the Titan. This possibly being what allowed the Titan to control their actions directly. These dwarves had neither speech nor seemingly any separate will of their own.

I must also inform His Majesty that the Shaper Valta shall not be returning to Orzammar, hence this lengthy letter relaying what she may, perhaps, have been able to bring herself. Shaper Valta was proud of her Stone Sense, stronger than most, perhaps, and it was this Stone Sense which led her and us directly into the center and heart of the body of the Titan itself.

She remains within the Titan. I cannot say for certain if it is of her own choosing, as she was altered by the lyrium and by the Titan itself. I can only relay our observations and her own words: that during our confrontation with the inner guardian of the Titan, Valta was struck by the lyrium, and released some unknown force which can only be described as magic. Although she regained her voice and some control afterward, she would not consent to return to Orzammar. She has, in her own words, been 'made pure' by the Titan, which recognized her as one of its own Children.

Valta did not appear to be in pain or to be suffering in any fashion when we parted ways.

Upon our return to Skyhold, reports of a strange cry above the caverns came to us, but attempts to re-enter the Titan itself have been unsuccessful. The body of Renn has also disappeared from where it was last seen.

Here is where our direct observations of these events ends.

His Majesty may do what he will with this information, but I trust that in his wisdom, he will not discard it. The truth of the matter may seem inconvenient, even troublesome, but it would be foolish to once again erase and ignore it.

The Sha-Brytol are dwarves, just as those in Orzammar are dwarves. The Stone Sense of which Orzammar's citizens are so proud, is the means by which the Shaper Valta was led to the Titan, and may again lead others to the same fate, should any stir again - to become enthralled to this entity, to join it and serve it.

This may be a temptation to some, to seek the Titan of their own desire, and that I shall pass no judgment upon, but to those who would escape this fate, I would say, beware.

The lyrium upon which Orzammar depends, as well as much upon the surface, also has these Titans as its source. How deeply and fervently it is harvested may be a prudent matter of discussion for the mining caste, lest they delve too deeply and awaken that which they did not expect.

Your Shaperate may wish to reconsider their practices regarding inconvenient truths, as there are many implications in this which could affect all of Orzammar and indeed the world beyond, and the loss of this knowledge could have imperiled us all.

Many questions, of course, remain. What are the Titans? Did they create us, the dwarves? Or were we perhaps another people entirely, before the Titans sought to make use of us? It is said that those of us who dwell on the surface are rejected by the Stone, and lose our Stone Sense, and I must wonder, then, if it is a native ability, or something placed within the Dwarven race by the Titans.

I will not greatly detail my own experiences in this matter, except to say that it may not always be as thoroughly lost among us "rejected" dwarves as is believed - I found my sleep disturbed frequently by a sense of weight I could not explain while so deep beneath the surface. One of my companions, another surface dwarf, had no such complaints, but these things may vary from one individual to the next.

I would not, however, mourn the loss of such a "sense" if it is the means by which I might be enslaved to a will not my own. The notion of an entire Kingdom, nay, an entire People, being enthralled as such, is nothing I care to contemplate at such a late hour.

 

 

\- Dari Cadash, Inquisitor

Skyhold

Copy: The Merchant's Guild (Kirkwall)

Enclosed:

Diagrams - Sha-Brytol armor; Sha-Brytol lyrium interfaced anatomy, partial dissection.

Sketches - lyrium veins in surrounding caverns; Inner anatomy of Titan entity, Guardian entity

Transcriptions and translations by Shaper Valta of various inscriptions & carvings surrounding and within the Titan entity.

 

* * *

Varric leaned one hip against the desk as he read the letter and flipped through her meticulous drawings, once again making an expression of disgust at the dissection diagram (as he had when she'd insisted upon cutting into one of them before they left the depths in the first place).

Cadash rubbed at her sore neck. She hated writing letters, but this was one she felt she needed to do herself, rather than fob it off on Josephine. _Dwarfy shit_. Ugh.

"Well your Inquisitorialness, you certainly pinned down that holier-than-thou Orzammar tone. I wonder if old Bhelen even knows what half of these words mean?"

"I'm sure one of his advisors will give him the sanitized translation. Or wipe his arse with it."

"Well, they can't say you didn't try, I guess."

"It will fall on deaf ears, I'm certain. Nothing ever changes down there, and Inquisitor or not, I'm still just Stone-rejected surface rubbish to them."

"I'm surprised you mentioned your own... issues. Bit personal, I'd think?"

"I suppose. They won't believe it anyway. Shit, they'll probably spit on it. I don't care, though, they can all go hump a nug. It's the truth."

"And we all know how much people adore the truth. Dwarves especially. Good thing I only tell lies."

Cadash smiled, despite herself. "At least your lies are entertaining. Theirs are just a load of nug shit. What do you think the Merchant's Guild will do with it?"

"Shit themselves, probably. Lyrium, alive? I'm sorry I won't be there when they read _that_ precious little nugget. They'll do what they always do - ignore any inconvenient little facts that get in the way of business and carry on as usual. Guess us 'cloud gazers' are not really that different after all...."


End file.
